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Other / Grammar versus politeness | | Hindi term or phrase: मेरे भाई दिल्ली में रहते हैं. | Hi,
The above sentence seems to me to mean at face value “My brothers live in Delhi” – however, could it be translated as “My brother lives in Delhi” if he is my older brother and I always show him respect? In that case I might refer to him in the plural. But wouldn’t that create problems of ambiguity?
All the best, and many thanks,
Simon |
| SeiTTKudoZ activityQuestions: 2859 ( 2 open) ( 5 closed without grading) Answers: 1
United Kingdom
| Local time: 03:20
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| | English translation:My brother lives in Delhi. | Explanation:
Unlike English, Hindi has the provision to use the plural form to express our respect for someone who is older than us. In addition to it, an officer may be younger in age, but the people use the plural form to show respect and if they use the singular form, it will sound very rude.
If the brother is younger in age, we may use the singular form:
मेरा भाई दिल्ली में रहता है।
मेरे भाई दिल्ली में रहते हैं also means 'my brothers live in Delhi.
Therefore, in order to make it clear, we should say
मेरे भाई साहब दिल्ली में रहते हैं।
This makes it clear that the speaker is talking about one elder brother and not brothers. |
| Selected response from:
 langclinic
India
Local time: 07:50
| Grading comment many thanks, an excellent solution to my difficulty
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +8